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WHERE TRUMAN MEETS ALICE

++ INNOCENT TRUMAN and BK THE VICE PRESIDENT: TWO CHARACTERS LIVING IN THEIR OWN 'CONSTRUCTED REALITIES'?

Charlie Hogg enjoys his life on the path and we wish him all personal success. But we also think there are ethical concerns to be addressed at BKA.

Hello again friends,

Here we are continuing to share BKA attitudes which perhaps arose, for both Truman and Charlie, from living most of their
lives in 'a constructed reality'.

CHAPTER TWO

PART 1.
We asked the vice president of BKA, Charlie Hogg, about the roles of 'Members of Brahma Kumaris Australia', as the BKA Constitution (2007) references them at length, as 'liability of members','application for membership', 'register of members' 'disciplining
of members' etc. To our surpise Charlie wrote saying that BKA did not have any members at all! ( Note : In reality the BKA Board and 'centre mangement group' are BKA members)

Further,
in our letter we referred to BK students/teachers as stakeholders as per the Oxford English Dictionary definition: 'A person with an interest or concern in something, especially a business'. Divine Brother Charlie denied
that BK students are stakeholders in BKA, which is odd as BKA teachers and students obviously have both interest in and concern with the organisation, a registered business called Brahma Kumaris Australia.

Denial is deeply embedded in BKA culture ( see elsewhere on this site) but we are nonetheless surprised by these responses from the BKA Director. Indeed we felt rather like Alice confronted by Humpty Dumpty
who told her: " "When I use a word it means exactly what I choose it to mean neither more nor less!"

PART 2 Brahma Kumaris Global Functioning (2008) was a large discussion enterprise, eventually of 7 Groups, which sought to discover and resolve matters of concern within the BKWSU. There was some hearty discussion
over a week, but little has been practically accomplished. Though one Group, GF Group 4 : Providing Mechanisms for Reconciliation showed hopeful signs, especially in its suggestions for 'promoting
problem solving with leadership' . But in my exchanges with Charlie Hogg it became clear that no such mechanism for problem solving have been established, otherwise obviously lawyers would not have had to be called upon.

Referencing the good suggestions from GF Group 4, we continue to ask :Has BK management been inspired to understand the reconciliation process? Where is the BKA committee of designated stakeholders with appropriate skills? What are BKA mechanisms established for more cooperation in problem solving with leadership? Have ther been conflict resolution skills acquired by those in responsible positions?
What are the particular protocols for resolving grievances?

Alas, none of the above appear to exist in the constructed reality of the Brahma Kumaris. Indeed a BKA board
member rersponded to my queries about conflict resolution by insisting that such matters are handled ‘through the current management system’! (See also Humpty Dumpty above )

Further, the above indicates that BK does not appear to have the requiredaccessible
and functioning 'procedures for receiving, investigating and addressing grievances among volunteer staff'as per Volunteers
Australia protocols.